


Vir Andhalan

by theironyouth



Series: Vir Tanadhal [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Inquisiton, Prequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 03:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6313222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theironyouth/pseuds/theironyouth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was never Mynne's intention to leave her clan and travel South, but after certain events transpire, her Keeper has little choice but to send her and her closest friends away-- for the safety of the Clan and the benefit of all Dalish. Prequel to Inquisition and Vir Bor'assan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Vir Andhalan

Staring at the decrepit, vine-choked ruins, it was hard for Mynne to imagine that they had ever been anything else. There was precious little evidence left of the library that once stood. Secrets still remained in the stones, hidden beneath the rubble, of that she had been assured, but she herself had found nothing more than vines and scat. The ungainly call of a crow caused her to turn her eyes upward, watching as an under-sized bird swept down from the sky toward her. It was a familiar game, watching the bird's small form arc down toward her chest. At the last moment, it veered off consumed in a cloud of smoke and feathers as it transformed back into a woman.

Naria was a short and narrow elf, thin limbs hidden under leathers and feathers, a crystal pendant several inches in length hung around her neck. Her broad features broke into a grin. "You never flinch."

"You always do." Mynne's lips turned up into a smile as well. "Did you see anything of interest?"

"I may have found a door. Come, help me move this rubble." Naria waved and Mynne let out a low huff of breath. "I heard that." Naria motioned to the rubble before stooping herself, beginning to move the remains of what Mynne assumed might have been a toppled pillar. Most of the stones had cracked into chunks small enough for the two of them to handle with ease. "Have you seen Tolan?"

"You're the bird," Mynne shrugged as she tossed a stone to the side. "I assumed you would know where he was."

There was another flurry of wings, followed by the smoke of transformation magic and another elf, also narrow and nobby in features, strode over, brows raised. "It looks like my eyes are growing dull if you were able to find something that I wasn't."

"Ah, well, there can only be one First," Naria teased.

"I believe that honor is Renya's, not yours," Tolan quipped back.

Naria straightened, hands on her hips. "And what reason do you think I have for being out here, moving these stones?"

"I don't see you moving any stones," Mynne said, tone pointed and sentence punctuated with the dry crack of another piece of rubble being tossed away. Naria ducked her head, sheepish expression crossing her face before she started to move debris again.

With the three of them working, two large chunks of broken stone were revealed, sagging into each other in the center, their corners raised. It didn't look like much of a door to Mynne, but with Naria's aerial vantage point, she may have been unable to see something the other woman had.

"How did you see that from above?" Mynne glanced up towards the sky.

Naria gave a shrug as she stared at the stones. "I suppose I'm just good at these things."

"You mean that you're too interested in everyone's secrets. And how do you propose we move the stone?" Mynne could see no handle, nor hinges. If there had ever been any, they had broken off long ago.

Naria lifted her hands, fingers glowing with wisps of energy. She flicked her wrist toward Tolan, who flinched at the spark of electricity that passed between them before he, too, held his hands up. They stretched their hands out toward the stone. It wasn't long before the air above the square was swirling with the same energy. There was a deep, stony groan as the door began to lift free. Mynne glanced between the mages, their effort written in the creases that formed at the edges of their mouths, the sweat that collected on their brows. Their hands clenched into fists, elbows drawing in for a moment until they pushed out and upward. The stone ground as it came up, achingly slow. After several more moments of effort, the slab came free and was shoved off to the side without ceremony.

Tolan bent, hands on his knees as his breath came in heavy heaves. Naria attempted to remain dignified, pushing her hair from her face and wiping her sweat on the back of her sleeve. "Well," she said. "You first." She made a loose motion for Mynne to start down the stairs. "Now that Tolan and I have done all the heavy lifting." She quirked a grin.

Mynne tilted her head, unamused, but moved to stare down into the basement. The stairs that led down appeared to be solid, made of stone and relatively protected from the outside world by the heavy slab that had rested above them for so long. Regardless, her steps were slow and measured, and an arrow was readied. But the chamber appeared to hold little more than damp darkness, and there was no sound of movement.

"It looks to be safe," she called back up upon reaching the bottom of the staircase. Mynne's arrow was returned to her quiver. Naria was the first down the staircase, her own steps slow as she descended, eyes adjusting to the light. "It appears that we're intruding." Mynne nodded towards a broken skeleton that lay on the floor. "We really should have knocked."

Naria rolled her eyes as she moved into the room, flame throwing an oddly cheerful light against the walls. Tolan came down as well, frowning at the small library they had uncovered. Naria was already poking at the tomes. "Imagine the look on Deshanna's face when we bring all of this back." Naria was bent over a small writing desk, peering at something that Mynne couldn't see.

"If it's all still intact." Mynne doubted that the damp was good for the pages or the ink, but some of the texts might have survived. She moved closer to the other woman. An amulet rested on the table next to a sheaf of papers. The ink was still clear as if it had just been penned, and the paper itself barely seemed touched by age. Naria's free hand slowly extended, but Mynne caught her wrist. "I wouldn't touch it."

Naria frowned at Mynne, pulling her arm free. "I don't detect any magical traps."

"What do you think this is?" At the sound of Tolan's voice, Mynne and Naria turned to find him holding a heavily-grooved sphere.

A quiet stretched between them before Naria shrugged. "Uninteresting."

"It's cracked anyway." Tolan turned the orb so they could see the wide crack that ran in a jagged line across its surface. A chunk appeared to be missing as well.

"Whatever it was, I don't think it will work as much more than a weight now. Best to leave it. Both of them." Mynne's expression was pointed as she looked between the two mages.

"Still, seems odd, don't you think--." Mynne interrupted Tolan's words with a hand, knocking an arrow back into place on her bow. She crept back toward the entrance, peering up and grateful that humans had weaker vision in the dark. There were footsteps near the entrance, but they were too soft to be booted feet. Snuffling accompanied the steps, and it was only moments more before a snout appeared, followed shortly by a paw. A second paw followed, and and soon the beast's whole head.

Tolan shuffled away from the stairs, trying to position himself behind Mynne. The quiet sounds of his steps alerted the wolf to their presence, and it turned, deep eyes staring at them. Mynne pulled back on her bowstring. The animal's presence seemed odd. They stared at each other for several more tense moments before the wolf peered around the room. Its eyes fell to Tolan, still clutching the orb in his shaking hands.

A loud crack echoed in the small room as it fell to the ground, the already-wide crack splitting the orb in two. The wolf flinched from the sound, huffed, and turned away, disappearing without another sound. Mynne crept up the stairs after it, but there was nothing save the vines and the scat.

"Look at the tomes, find out if any of the books are still intact." She glanced behind her as she relaxed her bow. "It will be safer to leave for camp and return if necessary." She turned, ducking to look directly at Naria. "Leave the amulet."

She heard Naria grumble something, but she couldn't quite make out the words, and she turned her attention back to the forest around them.

-

The aravels were a welcome sight as the Mynne made her way through the thinner edges of the forest towards the settlement the Lavellan clan had set up. Tolan and Naria, used to flying for much of their travel, had taken to alternating between bickering and complaining, and while her eyes hadn't been able to pick anything out of the trees, Mynne herself couldn't shake the feeling that they were being followed. Humans stood out too much in the woods unless a Ranger were following them, but that seemed unlikely. As far as she knew, few humans ever wandered into the Arlathan forest. Most were too superstitious, preferring to avoid the ancient trees and ruins. The wolf that had found them seemed unlikely as well. If it had wanted them for a meal, there were numerous occasions where it might have simply picked them off.

And yet, as they passed through the the line of aravels, the feeling still refused to completely pass. She stopped, turning to look at the edge of the forest one more time. Still there was nothing.

"Are you looking for the Dread Wolf?"

The voice made Mynne jump, caught off guard. She turned to find Ilrion watching her with an amused expression. "You know the feeling," she said, glancing at the bow held easily in his hands.

"I know the feeling," he agreed with a nod of his head. "But come, we have food to catch."

Mynne didn't want to admit that she had no interest in going back out into the forest, exposing herself to the menace that she couldn't see. She followed as he led, staring at the treeline with a forceful glare as they approached. "We'll have to be watchful-- there are wolves in the forest."

"There are wolves in most forests."

Mynne flicked her glare at Ilrion, unamused by his statement. "One appeared to be exploring the ruins Naria had found."

"That is concerning. Is that what's causing you distress?"

"Perhaps. It was odd-- it began to come down the steps into the chamber, and then disappeared. It then felt as if the beast was following us all the way back to camp." Mynne pointed, and Ilrion adjusted his path toward a game trail that Mynne had spotted on their initial trek into the woods. A silence grew between them, though it was not uncomfortable.

"So then-- shall we keep to our game?" His features broke into a grin.

Mynne paused, but eventually mirrored his expression. It was always difficult not to reciprocate Ilrion's emotions, and it was a relief to forget that she had previously been so anxious. "Rabbits count as two," she chirped before darting along the trail.


End file.
